Tencent, Nintendo, Sony, Givaudan: Intellectual Property

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Riot Games
online video-game unit, maker of “League of Legends,” said in
a statement that it has no intention of using its patents
offensively.

In the statement, the Santa Monica, California-based unit
described the U.S. patent system as broken and in need of
reform. Riot Games owns patent 8,636,589, which was issued Jan.
28 and covers systems and methods that enable a spectator’s
experience for online active games, according to the database of
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Riot Games said in an earlier statement that fans can use
intellectual property related to “League of Legends” as long
as what is created is given away for free or only generates
advertising revenue.

The creator of the game, who was reportedly earning as much
as $50,000 a day from embedded ads, said he took it down because
he couldn’t deal with the intense media interest, according to
Tuoitrenews.

Sony Files Infringement Suit Over Music Mixes for Cheerleading

Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment unit sued six
defendants for copyright infringement relating to allegedly
unauthorized compilations of music for cheerleading
competitions.

The defendants are selling custom music mixes derived from
Sony recordings for as much as $1,500 each, according to the
complaint filed yesterday in New York federal court.

The case is Sony Music Entertainment v. Extreme Traxx
Productions, 14-cv-00817, U.S. District Court, Southern District
of New York (Manhattan).

For more copyright news, click here.

Trademark

T-Mobile Wins Order Barring AT&T Unit’s Use of Magenta Color

T-Mobile US Inc., the mobile-communications service,
convinced a Texas federal court that a color used by AT&T Inc.’s
Aio Wireless unit infringed a trademark.

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal in Houston said that
Aio’s use of the color, described as plum or magenta, was likely
to confuse consumers and cost T-Mobile goodwill and potential
customers. Even though Aio used different fonts and slogans from
T-Mobile’s, the similar color was “visually dominant” and
infringing, she said.

Noting that the two entities offered similar products and
services, Rosenthal ordered Aio to stop using the color on its
advertisements, websites and stores. A status conference in the
case is set for March 5, according to court filings.

The case is T-Mobile USA v. Aio Wireless LLC, 13-cv-02478,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).

Trade Secrets/Industrial Espionage

Givaudan’s Ex-Employee Didn’t Take Trade Secrets, Jury Finds

Trade-secrets claims brought by Givaudan SA’s Givaudan
Fragrances unit against one of its former employees were
rejected by a jury in a New Jersey federal court Feb. 6.

The Swiss fragrances and flavor company sued a former vice
president for trade-secret misappropriation in September 2008,
claiming he took formulas for more than 600 of the company’s
fragrances with him when he went to work for Mane USA Inc., a
New Jersey-based competitor.

The jury said the ex-employee didn’t breach his contract
with Vernier, Switzerland’s Givaudan or take any of the
company’s trade secrets.

The case is Givaudan Fragrances Corp. v. Krivda, 08-cv-04409, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Trenton).